Method of producing soles for shoes



K. EN GEL.

METHOD OF PRODUCING SOLES FOR SHOES. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 2. ms.

1 ,3 1 3, 887 Patented Aug. 26, 1919,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KARL ENGEL, 0F ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented An". 26, 1919.

Application filed December 2, 1916. Serial No. 134,703.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, KARL ENGEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arlington, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Producin Soles for Shoes, of which the following escrip tion, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and more particularly to improvements in methods of producing soles for shoes.

The present invention has for its principal object to provide an improved method of producing soles for shoes by the practice of which an increased production of solo blanks may be obtained from a given amount of stock over that obtained by the present methods of producing soles and the waste incident to cutting sole blanks from the stock may be reduced to a minimum and whereby the resulting sole, when incorporated in a shoe, will add to the style and neat appearance of the shoe.

In cutting out solesas heretofore practised, it has been customary to die out each sole blank, comprising a forepart, shank portion and heel part, from the stock in a separate operation. This invention provides a novel and improved method by the practice of whicha single blank of sufficient size to provide two truncated sole blanks is cut out in a single operation and this blank is then cut into separate sole blanks in a subsequent operation. Preferably, and as herein shown, thi single blank has each of its opposite end portions shaped to provide a forepart for a sole blank with an intermediate portion connecting the foreparts havingsutlicient surface areato provide a contiguous shank portion for each of the foreparts when the blank is separated into two sole blanks by subsequent operations on the blank. An important step in my invention, accordingly, consists in slicing across the blank inside of the two opposite end portions of the blank or foreparts so as to separate the single blank into separate sole blanks and as herein illustrated, this slicing or cut extends substantially parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the blank and at approximately one-half its thickness, the cut terminating at one side of the blank on a line adjacent to the junction of the forepart and the intermediate portion of the blank and terminating on the other side of the blank on a line similarly disposed with reference to the other forepart of the blank. This method of cutting out a single blank having less surface area than two sole blanks and subsequently cutting this blank so as to obtain two sole blanks enables a greater umber of solo blanks to be obtained from a given amount of stock than the present methods of cutting soles, and therefore effects a considerable saving in the cost of the soles. Furthermore, the resulting soles, each having a forepart and a shank portion of a uniform thickness which is less than the adjacent forepart of the sole have definite advantages over soles of uniform thickness as out by the present methods, since such soles when incorporated in a shoe enable a uniformly thin sole to be obtained throughout the shank of the shoe whereby the style and neat appearance of the shoe are greatly improved and also increase the flexibility and resiliency of the shoe in the shank and reduce its weight materially.

In another aspect, the invention consists in securing to the sole blank where the truncated end is skivcd oil", a heel piece which may be advantageously made up of scrap leather cemented together and cut to the proper shape, or the heel portion may be formed from other inferior material, thereby effecting an economy without detracting from the wearing qualities or appearance of the shoe. Preferably, and as herein shown, the truncated nd of the sole blank is skivcd so that the bevel is made on the upper surface of the sole blank in which case the overlapping or longer portion of the bevel locates itself rearwardly of the heel breast line and is covered by the heel of the shoe.

These and other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the various novel features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a form of die which may advantageously be used in connection with the practice of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a two-part sole blank from which a right and a left sole are to bemade.

tary or two-part sole blank is first produced. Preferably the blank is died out in a sole cutting machine by the use of suitable dies 2 shaped, for example, to remove a "blank such as illustrated in Fig. 2, if unsymmetrical soles or two lefts are to be produced, or having a contour corresponding to that of the sole blank illustrated in Fig. 3 if symmetrical soles or a left and a right are to be cut. Each end of the unitary blank to be cut is shaped to form the forepart 4 of a single sole blank and has an intermediate portion 6 connecting the foreparts 4 of a surface area corresponding to the shank portion of a single sole blank. It will be seen that with a die shaped to remove a sole blank having this contour, it is possible to cut in one operation sufficient stock to provide two sole blanks and to place the die close to the side of the stock with but little.

waste. Also by placing the die each time with certain points of its contour in definite relation to certain-points of the con-' tour of blanks previously cut the amount of waste of stockbetween the sole blanks is negligible.

After removing the unitary blanks from the stock or material by the dies, the blanks are each separated into two sole blanks. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the blank is separated by a longitudinal slicing or out which. as indicated in Flg. 5, is confined entirely to the intermediate or connecting portion 6 of the blank and is located at substantially .one-half the'thickness of the stock and parallel to its upper and lower surfaces. One manner by which this maybe conveniently accomplished is by providing a templet or form corresponding to the shape of the sole blank desired. Advantageously a completed sole may be used for the templet, and as herein illustrated it comprises a forepart portion 8 of a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the stock and a shank portion 10 of a uniform thickness which is substantially one-half the thicknessof the stock at the forepart, the reduced portion of the sole extending from approximately the ball line,

as indicated at 12', of the sole to the truncated end '14 of the sole which is substantially at the heel breast line. This templet or form is then placed' upon the grain or upper surface of the sole blank in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4, that is, with the templet conforming to one end of the sole blank andthe'reduced portion uppermost. The sole, with the templet in position thereon, may then be .run through a. splitting machine of any well-known construction to separate the blank into two sole blanks. The illustrated machine comprises a gage roll 16, a""feed roll l8 and a knife 20, the rolls being rotated, in the direction indicated, by any suitable means. The gage ro-ll 116 is set from the knife 20 sponding to the thickness of the stock of a distance correthe blank at the forepart 4, the knife being arranged in substantially the plane of the topsurface of the lower or feed roll 18 and the feed roll spring pressed upwardly.

With this arrangement, the blank ispresented to the machine endmost, as shown in Fig. 4, and passes freely between the rolls 16, 18 until they encounter the increased thickness of the stock, due to the templet or form on the blank, at which time the lower or, feed roll 18 is forced downwardly, thus forcing this portion of the blank into a lower plane whereby theknife 20 enters the under surface or flesh side of the blank. The knife 20 then travels along in the stock in a plane substantially parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the blank consistent with the substantially uniform thickness of the reduced portion 10 of the templet until the increased thickness of the templet corresponding to .the forepa rt 8 of the sole isencountered which further offsets the blank at this point and causes the knife to leave the blank at its upper surface and travel thereafter between the templet and the blank. This mode of operation results in two sole blanks each having a forefront 4 of a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the stock fromv which the blank was removed and a shank portion 6 having a uniform thickness which is approximately one -half'the thickness of the stock at the forepart of the blank. The.

knife 20 is preferably caused to enter and leave the stock on a slant as indicated at 22, Fig. 5, in order to elimlnate any ridge across the sole at approximately the ball line which would bed'etrimental to the appearance of the sole. The exact method of slicing the unitary blank into (two sole blanks, however, can be controlled entirely by the shape of the form or templet used. For example, by the use of a suitably shaped templet the blank may be separated into two sole blanks by av diagonal cut extending from the junction of the forepart and the intermediate portion on one side of'the sole to a corresponding line with reference to the other forepart of the blank on the other surface of the blank. It will be noted that by shaping the unitary blank with an outline corresponding to that of two foreparts with a surface area between them which is sufficient to provide a contiguous shank portion for each forepart whenthe intermediate portion is divided. for example. in the manner described. enables the manufacturer to add considerably to the number of soles obtainable from a hide of leather and also reduce the ofi'al incident to dieing out soles to a minimum.

The sole produced by my process may advantageously be utilized as shown in Fig. 6 wherein the truncated end of the sole is beveled on its upper surface as at 24, and a heel portion 26 of inferior material fastened thereto, preferably by means of staples 28. This heel part may be made up advantageously of scrap leather cemented together and cut to form the desired shape, or the heel portion may be formed from an inferior grade of leather.

Inthe use of the soles. method above described, the sliced surfaces 30 of the soles are used uppermost, although it is obvious that equally good results can be secured by using the sliced surfaces 30 of the soles outermost in which case, of course, both symmetrically and unsymmetrically shaped dies would have to be used and the soles matched up. The junction of the heel part 30 with the shank portion 6 is located rearwardly of the heel breast line so as to be coveredby the heel of the shoe.

The reduced shank portion of the sole produced by the practice of this method not only increases the fiexibilitv of the shoe and reduces its weight materially, but it enables a uniformly thin sole edge to be obtained throughout the shank of the shoe, thus improving the style and appearance of the shoe.

This feature of the sole is of especial utility in the manufacture of womens shoes in that it is found highly desirable in such shoes to eliminate as much as possible the amount of stock in the shank of the shoe in order to obtain what is known as a close edge. This is obtained at present by skiving or beveling the upper surface of the sole along the shank by a separate operation, but it has not, however, been found entirely satisfactory, since the sole is invariably trimmed much closer on one side of the shoe than on the other in' the shank in which event the thickness of the sole edges on the sides varies considerably.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. That improvement in the art of pro' ducing soles which consists in dieing out a single blank having each of its opposite end produced by the.

ortions forming the forepart of a sole and, eing connected by an intermediate portion forming the shank portion of a sole, and then separating the blank into two sole blanks each having a shank portion of uniform thickness which is substantially less than the adjacent forepart of the sole blank.

2. That improvement in the art of producing soles which consists in dieing out a single blank having each of its opposite end ortions forming the forepart of a sole and eing connected by an intermediate portion forming the shank portion of a sole, and then separating the blank into two sole blanks having a contiguous shank portion by a longitudinal cut confined to the intermediate portion of the blank and extending substantially parallel to its upper and lower surfaces and then outwardly on opposite sides of the blank.

3. That improvement in the art of producin soles which consists in dieing out a {5 single blank having each of its opposite end portions forming the forepart of a sole and eing connected by an intermediate portion, forming the' shank portion of a sole, and then separating the blank by a cut extending substantially parallel to the upper and the lower surfaces of theolank and at approximately one-half its thickness, said out terminating on one side of the blank on a line adjacent to the junction of the forepart and the intermediate portion of the blank and terminating on the other surface of the blank on a line similarly disposed with reference to the other forepart of the blank.

4. A method of cutting outer soles from a hide of leather, which consists in cutting out of the leather :1 blank having two toe portions with an intermediate portion between them, and slicing across said blank in side of the two toe portions so as to form said intermediate portion into sole portions for each end of the blank, each of a half thickness of leather.

5. A method of cutting outer soles from a hide of leather, which consists in cutting out of the leather a blank having two toe portions with an intermediate.portion between them, and slicing across said blank inside of the two toe portions, said slicing being made by an incision from one side to half the thickness of the leather, a cut parallel to the sides and a cut out of the leather on the other side.

6. A method of cutting outer soles from a hide of leather, which consists in cutting out of the leather a blank having two toe portions with an intermediate portion between them. and slicing across said blank inside of the two toe portions, said slicing being made by an incision from one side to half the thickness of the leather, a cut parallel to the sides and a cut out of the leather on the other side, with the ncision and the latter out being made at a slant, for the mediate the ends so as to leave unsliced porpurpose described. tions of the length of the toe, portions for a 7. A method of cutting out outer soles for sole at each side of the cut and portions of 10 shoes which consists in cutting a piece of half thickness Where sliced. 5 leather of a length less than two complete In testimony whereof I have signed my soles, and slicing the leather parallel to the name to this specification. sides thereof at the portion thereof inter- KARL EN GEL. 

